I try not to judge people who use the mainstream social media sites, even Facebook. But what really gets to me is linktree .
I think more people should have blogs. I think even more people should have personal websites. Their own websites. I have little desire to police what they put on their websites. But the “service” that Linktree provides is about the most basic thing you can put on your personal website: a list of links to your stuff around the internet. It is “link in bio” as a service. I have shared this link before, but Anil has a nice article about the danger of “link in bio”
I am sympathetic to the fact that not everyone has the technical expertise that I do. That not everyone wants to run their own website. That not everyone even cares what a website is.
This could be a blog post of its own, and perhaps will be someday, but I have to continually remind myself that not everyone is a computer-toucher like I am, interested in them for their own sake. For many people—indeed, for many of the things I myself do—computers and websites are purely incidental. They think: “I want or need to do X task.” and if a computer is involved that is a mere detail.
But a list of links to your stuff is really the most basic kind of website one can have. I won’t say that everyone should have a blog—I know well that not everyone has much to say. But insofar as everyone should have their own website, a list of links to their profiles in various places is it. A way to let people know how they can be contacted is it.
So get yourself a website. And if you do nothing else with it, tell me where you are and what you’re doing. That’s all I ask.
This is a simple thing, but an important thing. Linking matters.